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The telecom company, Vodafone Idea shares fell 10 per cent, hitting the lower circuit, ahead of a Supreme Court hearing on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) case.
At 12:25 pm, Vodafone Idea was at Rs 9.74 apiece on the BSE, down 10 per cent from its previous close, while the benchmark Sensex was down 0.85 per cent at 33956.67.
The case will be heard by a bench of Justices Arun Mishra, MR Shah and S Abdul Nazeer. On 16 March, the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) had approached the top court seeking approval for a formula allowing telecom service providers to pay AGR dues in annual installments over the next 20 years or more.
The plea also sought that telcos not be charged penalty and interest on penalty and principal beyond the date of the judgement. The government had cited adverse impact on the economy, telecom sector and banks while urging for a staggered payment schedule.
Telecom companies owe a whopping Rs 1.47 lakh crore in AGR dues. In the previous hearing on 18 March, the apex court had slammed the Centre and telecom companies for not complying with its order on the payment of dues and penalties, saying: ‘Actions of telecom companies tantamount to seeking to bypass our judgement. All dues as per our judgement will have to be paid, including interest and penalty.’
For Vodafone Idea, the total dues amount to Rs 53,000 crore. It has, however, claimed that it owes Rs 21,500 crore as per the company’s self assessment. The telco has so far paid Rs 6,900 crore.
